A public hearing will be held in Guilford on Monday, November 4 to discuss the possibility of a 2,500-foot extension of sidewalk on State Street to the intersection with LIttle Meadow Road.
According to Shore Publishing, Guilford resident Jennifer Mullett gathered 49 signatures for a petition to add the sidewalks. She is quoted in the publication stating: "There are a lot of pedestrians and kids and bicyclists that use this stretch of road and to have sidewalks extended to this area would make it safer for everyone, including the drivers." Mullett's petition states: "We understand the traffic patterns and pedestrian use of this portion of State Street. Many people walk along this portion of State Street. Students often walk this route home from Adams Middle School. Often there can be cars, bicycles, and pedestrians on the road at the same time. Providing sidewalk in this location would remove the pedestrians from the roadway, thereby reducing the interactions between vehicular traffic and people." The hearing will be held at Town Hall at 7 p.m. The Essex Police Union will be collecting unused or unwatched bicycles for the non-profit organization Bikes for Kids on Saturday, November 2. The event will take place from Noon-6 p.m. at Scoops, 55 Main Street in Centerbrook. Those who donate bikes will receive a gift certificate for a Scoops ice cream with every donated bicycle.
Bikes for Kids will fix up the bicycles and donate them to children and families in need. For more information, contact Police CPL Russ Gingras at rgingras@essexct.gov or 860-767-1054. The town of Wilton is scheduled to break ground on a demonstration section of the Norwalk River Valley Trail on Danbury Road on November 7.
The construction will start on the half-mile trail segment from Danbury Road to Raymond Lane on Gaylord Drive South. This will be the first part of the town's eight-mile Wilton Center Loop, a trail that will wrap around the center of town. The Norwalk River Valley Trail that is currently proposed will be 38-miles, and include multi-use trails that will go from Norwalk's Calf Pasture Beach to Rogers Park in Danbury. The trail will follow Route 7 from Norwalk to Danbury Road in Wilton, where it will then split off into two directions before coming back together. The demonstration section of the trail will be completed within six to eight weeks after construction begins. The purpose of creating the demonstration area is to help with fundraising efforts to support the creation of the rest of the trail. Its demonstration section is expected to be completed within six to eight weeks of the start of its construction, Sesto said. “We have done a really strong job noticing the abutting neighborhoods,” said Sesto. The town has held workshops with homeowners living beside the proposed trail, and the majority of them seemed supportive of the project, according to Sesto. The four-mile west side of the loop with travel from Danbury Road up Wolfpit Road, down River Road, through Wilton Center, past the Wilton Train Station and Merwin Meadows and connect with the east side near Allens Meadows Park. The loop’s east side will be built over four miles with a public-private partnership between the townl and the state’s Department of Transportation. Portions of the trail will utilize existing roadways and sidewalks on streets, Sesto said. “This is pretty exciting, this is an important milestone,” said First Selectman Bill Brennan at the selectmen’s meeting. The first piece of the east side will be paid for through private donations and grants, Sesto said. A 2,000-foot-long, 10-foot-wide boardwalk will be built through otherwise unwalkable woods, Sesto said. She said nearly $300,000 has been raised so far, and that Friends of NRVT hopes to reach $500,000 by Thanksgiving. “The community members have really been stepping up some very generous support for us,” said Sesto. Selectman Hal Clark said at the meeting that the trail will be an amenity to the town. He said itl will travel past many of Wilton’s corporate offices, which will be beneficial to workers and make the municipality appear more desirable for companies. Clark added that people who enter the trail will think they are deep inside a forest away from society. “They’re going to suddenly feel like their 250 miles away from New York City. Sesto said schools like Wilton High School will also be capable of conducting science lessons on the trail to enhance classes. According to Brennan, visitors to the trail will be able to walk, ride their bikes or even ride horses on it if interested. “We think it’s really important to get a demonstration section on the ground not only for Wilton and our own fundraising program, but for the NRVT as a whole,” said Sesto. Residents, business owners, trail users and anyone else who may be interested are encouraged to come to an information meeting on the Hockanum River Linear Trail - Phase 3. This phase of the project addresses the end of the current trail east of the Hillside Street parking area to Olde Roberts Street, near Roberts Street.
What: Public information session on Hockanum River Linear Trail When: Wed., Oct. 30, 2013, 7pm Where: East Hartford Town Hall, Welling Conference Room, 2nd Floor (740 Main Street, East Hartford, CT 06108) Questions? Contact Denise Horan, Town Engineer, dhoran@easthartfordct.gov New Haven mayoral candidates Senator Toni Harp and Alderman Justin Elicker faced off in their final debate of the election season on October 22.
The debate covered a wide variety of topics, but both Harp and Elicker did touch on street safety in the city. Elicker mentioned he wanted to change many of the city's one-way streets and make them two-way, which is currently under study in the city. He said the one-way streets are in favor of vehicles and make the streets more dangerous. Harp on the other hand said she wants to look into why there are one-way streets in New Haven. He mentioned that an issue with prostitution was solved on her street by converting it from a two-way to a one-way. She added that she wants to see more roundabouts in the city to help slow traffic down. Read a full recap of the debate in the New Haven Register, here. Stage 3 of the Flatbush Avenue Reconstruction project in Hartford and West Hartford was completed ahead of schedule. The Flatbush Avenue Bridge opened on Friday, October 18.
The Bridge goes over the existing Amtrak Railroad and the new CTfastrak guideway. The four-lane bridge spans 1,100 feet and contains a pedestrian walkway. It cost $23.1 million. The project also included the realignment and reconstruction of the intersection of New Park Avenue and Flatbush Avenue, and the reconstruction of the intersection of Flatbush Avenue and Newfield Avenue. Stage 3 of the project was scheduled to take 21 days, however it was completed earlier (11 days). A public debate will take place tonight (October 22) at Gateway Community College at 7:30 p.m. between New Haven mayoral candidates Sen. Toni Harp and Alderman Justin Elicker, D-10.
If you live in New Haven and want to know what each candidate stands for in regards to making the city bikeable and walkable, attend the debate in person, or it will be taped and rebroadcasted by the local government channel CT-N TV. On October 16, Simsbury's Elementary Physical Education Department hosted a bike safety education workshop for other physical education teachers throughout Connecticut. Approximately 12 teachers attended an interactive workshop to learn how to implement a bike safety unit within their schools.
The all-day workshop was offered through a cooperative effort with the Simsbury Public Schools, Bike Walk Connecticut and Simsbury Free Bike. Bike safety education, including etiquette, will be incorporated into the fourth-grade physical education curriculum at all five elementary schools. Two schools, Tootin’ Hills and Latimer Lane, piloted the program last spring. Tariffville will implement the curriculum this month, while Central and Squadron Line will be rounding out the effort this spring. The Bike Walk Connecticut program began with the town of Berlin’s physical education teacher, Jim Arnold, who took his love for biking to the next level by designing and advocating for this “train the trainer” format. The Glastonbury Town Council will hold a public hearing tonight (October 22) on a economic development plan in the downtown area with mixed-use projects, enhanced streets and new residential housing.
The Town Council is rezoning several properties in the center of town, including New London Turnpike, Hebron Ave. and Main St. The Council's goal is to provide a set of regulations that would allow mixed uses, redevelop the area and enhance and strengthen the area as a vital center of the town. The meeting will begin at 8 p.m. and will allow the Town Council to explain the changes and also receive public comments. The City of New Haven will be seeking public input on October 21-24 on the possible conversion of one-way streets to two-way streets in Downtown New Haven. Public input will be gathered at a design “charrettes”—a series of meetings at which various stakeholders are brought together for focused planning and design work. Jim Travers, the Director of Traffic, Transportation and Parking stressed that the City has not made a decision to either keep certain downtown streets one-way or to convert them to two-way and that the point of the charrette—to gather as much public input as possible. “I'm really excited about gathering various community members around the table to explore design solutions to improve mobility within the city center. I think that the charrettes will result in joint ownership of the solutions that are developed.” The charrette will kick off at 6:30pm on Monday, October 21 at the New Haven Free Public Library at 133 Elm Street with a project overview and educational session. While residents can stop in at any point during the charrette to provide input or ask questions, the “Hands on Design Sessions” are the ideal opportunity to take part in the design process. On Tuesday, October 22, two Hands on Design Sessions will be held. The first will be at 10 a.m. at the lower level of the New Haven Free Public Library at 133 Elm Street. The second will be held at 6:30 pm at the Chapel West Special Services District office 1205 Chapel Street. On Thursday, October 24 at 6:30 pm. there will be a Progress Presentation at the lower level of the New Haven Free Public Library at 133 Elm Street. Click here for a full schedule. |
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